Alert: FBI Investigating Threats to Midwest Water Supply Systems: “On High Alert”

SHTF Plan – by Mac Slavo

Reuters reports that the FBI and other agencies are in the process of investigating multiple threats to Midwest Water Supply Systems. Specifically, the FBI has named Wichita, Kansas as a target, but utility facilities have also been put on alert in other Midwestern cities.  

(Reuters) The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation learned of the threats in the past two days and has contacted the water supply facilities and law enforcement offices for the municipalities, said Bridget Patton, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Kansas City, Missouri.

Patton declined to discuss the nature of the threats or the number of cities affected. She said investigators had been sent out in response to the reports, but offered no details.

“We were made aware of the threat,” Patton said. “We have not been able to substantiate any of the threats.”

Wichita city officials warned employees in emails to be on guard for suspicious activities. City officials also told residents the water is safe to drink and the public will be notified immediately if this changes.

Wichita Police Lieutenant Doug Nolte said Friday that the city had taken steps to keep the city’s water supply safe, but would not describe what measures had been taken. 

…

(KSN News) “The FBI as of our law enforcement agencies take any threats to the public personal safety very seriously,” said Bridget Patton, Media Representative for the FBI.

For the last several days, the FBI has been looking into a regional water threat.

KSN News learned the potential hazard affects four major water systems in the mid-west including Wichita. 

The Wichita water utility plants serve about 500,000 people, but many millions may be affected should systems in multiple Midwest cities fail or come under attack simultaneously.

In 2011 cyber security McAfee issued a warning titled In the Dark: Crucial Industries Confront Cyberattacks, in which they noted that all critical infrastructure systems connected to the internet could be compromised by rogue attacks resulting in shutdowns or malfunctions.

The sectors on which this report focuses — power, oil, gas, and water — may well be the first targets for a serious cyberattack.

What we found is that they are not ready. The professionals charged with protecting these systems report that the threat has accelerated — but the response has not. Cyberexploits and attacks are already widespread. Whether it is cybercriminals engaged in theft or extortion, or foreign governments preparing sophisticated exploits like Stuxnet, cyberattackers have targeted critical infrastructure.

In the case of water utilities, if hackers were to take control of the computers that maintain safe water levels and chemical treatment they could potentially poison the water supplies of millions. In such a case people could go to sleep like any normal night, wake up in the morning and have a glass of water, and be poisoned by any number of chemical or biological agents that have been released into the water supplies.

Hackers have already broken into water utility computer systems recently, despite assurances that the systems are safe. In November of 2011 a Stuxnet-style virus infected the physical components of the Springfield, Illinois water utility plant and shut down water pumps, demonstrating that not only can systems be infiltrated from outside of protected networks, but that the physical equipment can be overtaken.

But it’s not just the computer systems. There is a woeful disregard for perimeter security in and around critial infrastructure assets around the United States, including water plants.

Security around national water reservoirs may not be as safe as we thought:

In a time where people talk all the time about droughts, 21 year old Josh Seater has cost the city of Portland Oregon 8 million gallons of drinking water.

After a night on the town, a heavily intoxicated Seater began urinating a water reservoir.  “I didn’t know it was a water supply, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it, I thought it was a sewage plant”.

The cost of Josh’s drunken behavior has cost the Portland Water Bureau $ 36,000, as the 8 million gallons have had to be completely drained away.

While TSA gaterapes grannies in diapers at our local airports and steams ahead on expanding enhanced pat-downs and searches to all public venues including train stations, sporting events and malls, the real security holes are completely ignored.

With so many billions of dollars being spent on homeland security, Americans have been left with a false sense of security. The government tells us they are protecting us, and most people simply take this at face value.

In reality, even if the government was  efficiently deploying its resources for effectively securing critical infrastructure, the fact is that nothing can ever be 100% secure. This is evidenced by recent comments from outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who warned that a widespread cyber attack on our national power grid and other infrastructure is not only guaranteed, but imminent.

In previous comments, Napolitano, along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has advised Americans to stockpile at least two (2) weeks of essential supplies, including food and fresh drinking water, citing concerns that emergency responders could be overwhelmed in the event of a widespread emergency.

Failure to prepare for short and long-term disaster could be deadly. Most Americans have about three days worth of food supplies and almost no reserve water supplies ormethods for filtering water should the water supply be compromised.

As we saw with Hurricane Sandy, any disruptions to the normal flow of supplies or commerce would lead to a breakdown within 72 hours as those affected struggle to acquire limited resources.

http://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/alert-fbi-investigating-threats-to-midwest-water-supply-systems_10192013

Alert: FBI Investigating Threats to Midwest Water Supply Systems: “On High Alert”

Investigating a military suicide when it"s your son

A photo from a family trip to Washington, D.C. in the early 1990s with Robert, his son Thomas on the right and Michael on the left. courtesy of Robert Bagosy

When Bagosy brought his son to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot at Parris Island in South Carolina in 2003, the 19-year-old was just a “knucklehead” who loved to tinker with cars, didn’t enjoy school because it required sitting still, and had a history of experimenting with drugs. When he graduated boot camp in 2004, Tommy looked sharp, trim and muscular. He was now a motor transport mechanic who could fix trucks and combat vehicles.

Bagosy struggled to understand his son’s trajectory from that moment to the suicide. “Knowing my son as an adult kind of drove my investigation,” he said. The detective work yielded answers.

A medical evaluation found that Tommy’s neurologic and psychiatric conditions did not exist prior to joining the Marines. Records described the TBI and at least five other explosions that rattled his brain during the Iraq deployment. He sought treatment for PTSD and TBI shortly after returning from Iraq in 2007. The notes of his psychiatric records show Tommy, once loving and self-possessed, struggling with anger and impulse control. In the months before his death he mentions suicidal thoughts, but denies wanting to act on them. Tommy, the doctors said, was not a threat to himself or others.

The documents also contained snapshots of Tommy’s experience at war. He was awarded the first of two combat action ribbons in October 2006. The second was awarded in Afghanistan when he towed out a vehicle under enemy fire. One day, Tommy was removed from a convoy and his best friend took his place and was killed in an IED attack. Tommy would never shake the guilt of how their fortunes changed, according to his psychiatric records.

Bagosy knew few of these details before he read his son’s file and talked to his battle buddies, who described Tommy as stalwart and skilled. The picture of Tommy that emerged was of an unafraid but increasingly troubled young man. The violence that darkened his life at the end, Bagosy said, was the grip of war holding his son tight.

Bagosy has his share of personal regret. After returning from Iraq, Tommy confessed over dinner: “You know, dad, I killed people.” Bagosy encouraged him to seek psychological help, but now wishes he’d handled it differently. “I should have probably said, ‘Hey, let’s go out back and get a case of beer and sit and talk.’” Tommy may not have opened up over a six-pack, but Bagosy wishes he at least had the chance.

The investigation has led Bagosy to unexpected places. He’s spoken to young Marines about Tommy and the importance of recognizing Semper Fi moments. He’s shared the lessons of Tommy’s story briefly with Marine Corps Commandant and President Barack Obama. He submitted a request for a Purple Heart in honor of Tommy’s service in Iraq and is awaiting its approval. Through TAPS, he regularly mentors other fathers who have lost children to suicide. None of this will revive Tommy, but it is a memorial.

The veteran detective knew he might never solve the elusive why of his son’s case, but he thinks his investigation had a positive conclusion.

“I think I found out who my son was,” he said. “And I liked what I saw.”

Al Jazeera America

Investigating a military suicide when it"s your son